Refinance Applications Down for Eighth Consecutive Week

April 11, 2012 (Chris Moore)

Mortgage application volume fell last week as applications by borrowers to refinance their current loans fell for the eighth consecutive week according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending April 6, 2012.

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume which includes purchase applications and refinance applications, decreased a seasonally adjusted 2.4 percent from the previous week.

On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 2.1 percent from the previous week. The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is down 2.08 percent.

Purchase Applications:

The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 0.5 percent from the previous week. The four week moving average is up 2.19 percent for the adjusted Purchase Index.

The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 0.1 percent compared with the previous week and was 5.5 percent higher than the same week a year ago.

Refinance Applications:

The Refinance Index decreased 3.1 percent from the previous week, the first increase for the Index in seven weeks. The four week moving average for the Index is down 3.45 percent.

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased for the eighth consecutive week to 70.5 percent of total applications from 71.2 percent the previous week, the lowest share since the end of July in 2011.

Mortgage Interest Rates:

Average Contract Mortgages Rates
(80% loan-to-value)

Type of
Loan

Interest Rate (%)

Points

Effective Rate

Current

Previous

Current

Previous

30-Year FRM Conforming
($417,500 or less)

4.10

4.16

0.43

0.43

Decreased

30-Year FRM Non-Conforming
($417,501 or more)

4.43

4.46

0.36

0.49

Decreased

15-Year FRM

3.37

3.40

0.37

0.41

Decreased

FHA 30-Year

3.87

3.89

0.55

0.58

Decreased

5/1 ARM

2.89

2.93

0.38

0.35

Decreased

The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity was unchanged from the previous week at 5.5 percent